"As a daughter of a black mother and a white father, we have here in Brazil this kind of negotiation about identity. When I say "I'm black," people try to negotiate this telling me: "No, you're not black, you are mestiço, you are mulata." And they think they're doing me a favor not calling me a black woman." -Ana Maria Gonçalves

State and federal programs aim to ensure minority-owned businesses can compete for government contracts after generations of institutional discrimination. A Lynnwood man long identified as white is using DNA ethnicity estimates to claim minority status.

Ralph Taylor says it doesnâ€™t matter what he looks like. Having lived most of his life as a white man, the 55-year-old now considers himself to be multiracial based on DNA test results.

Taylor is suing Washington state and the federal government because he was denied a minority-business certification under a program created more than two decades ago to help level the playing field for minority business owners seeking contracts in the transportation industry. He provided no evidence he has suffered socially or economically because of race.

With no criteria defining a minority race or ethnicity, OMWBE eventually approved Taylor. But that same state agency, which also manages the U.S. Department of Transportation certification, decided he was Caucasian under that programâ€™s procedures and denied his application…